"There ain't but two things in music: good and bad. Now if it sounds good, you don't worry what it is. You're just gonna enjoy it." -- Louis Armstrong

Monday, January 30, 2012

RAINDANCING - Alison Moyet

YEAR: 1987

LABEL: Columbia

TRACK LISTING: Is This Love, Stay, Glorious Love, When I Say (No Giveaway), Blow Wind Blow, Weak in the Presence of Beauty, Ordinary Girl, You Got Me Wrong, Without You, Sleep Like Breathing

IMPRESSIONS: In 1987, I fell in love with this bit of pop perfection. It didn't hurt that Alison Moyet guest-starred on an entire episode of FRENCH & SAUNDERS where she not only performed "Ordinary Girl" but also acted throughout most of it (and she was quite funny). I believe I first got the album on vinyl and then promptly bought it on cassette which I played to death back in the day. Of course, when I finally got around to getting a cd player, I immediately bought it on compact disc as well. The only thing missing was 8-track. RAINDANCING is simply one of my favourite 80s albums.

FACT SHEET: RAINDANCING is Alison Moyet's second album. "Is This Love?" was co-written by Alison Moyet and Dave Stewart (under his Jean/Manu Guiot pseudonym). The original UK version of the album had the songs in a different running order. "Sleep Like Breathing" duet partner David Freeman is from the band "The Lover Speaks".

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MISSION STATEMENT

Here in the Dark Forest we will reach under a pile of leaves (almost) every day and pull out a favourite album to listen to. These will not be reviews per se but will feature facts, track lists and personal impressions on much-loved albums.

I strongly hope that you will leave comments relating your personal impressions and experiences related to the albums featured here. The only thing better than talking about music is listening to the music itself and I'd love to hear how this music affects you as well. So please let's hear from you.

ONE SMALL NOTE ON THE TERM "ALBUM"

This is, in fact, the correct term. An "album" does not mean a vinyl record; that term would be "record" or "LP". The term "album" means "an album of songs" in the same way as a "photo album" is "an album of photos". The definition of the word "album" means a collection of songs regardless of the medium on which it is presented. An album can be on vinyl, tape, compact disc or computer file but still remains an "album". Originally the term "album" came from the days of 78 rpm records: several records would be packaged together inside a book-shaped "album" with individual sleeves where you would slide out each record to play. With the advent of 33 1/3 rpm records (the first ever LP being Frank Sinatra's IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS) all the songs from the 78 rpm package were grouped together on one 33 1/3rd rpm LP which continued to use the word "album" even after this first change in format. That is why this blog will use that term.